ATIX850 and 8800GT

[ABE 0]

Would I benifit much to upgrade to the 8800GTS/GTX?Thanks.Abe

[Guest jimcooper1]

It all depends on the rest of your system. Post your whole PC spec: MB,CPU & RAMRegardsJim

[ABE 0]

Here it is:ABIT AA8XEPentium 4, 3.8ghz2 GIGS or RAMAlso, is there a diffenrence between the GTS and the GTX?Thanks, Jim.Abe

[Guest jimcooper1]

OK,That's a fast board and cpu so assuming you've got fast RAM then you will notice a difference. Whether the difference in performance is worth the $300-$550 you have to pay is very subjective.The difference between GTS and GTX is 96 stream processors versus 128 stream processors.I think the limiting factor is that FSX is so CPU intensive even a P4 at 3.8 GHz will struggle to supply the graphics card if all the sliders are maxed. So a 8800 GTS is probably good enough or even an ATI X1950XTRegardsJim

[ABE 0]

Thanks Jim. I appreciate your input.RegardsAbe

[Guest satcomvato]

In my opinion, the 8800 is a huge leap ahead and now that you can get the 320MB version for ~270 bucks, there is no point in purchasing any DX9 card that costs more than $200. I've seen plenty of benchmarks where a single 8800GTS out-performed 2 X1950XT's in Crossfire and 2 7900GT's in SLI. Unless you're going to get a budget card (you obviously aren't since you're playing FSX) I'd only consider an 8800 model unless you're an ATI die-hard and want to wait for their DX10 offering.

[ABE 0]

Thanks for the input Satcomvato.I made up my mind to get the 8800GTS with 640 megs. I have seen it selling for about $370.However, I have to be careful. I do lots of VIDEO CAPTURE and editing.Do you know off hand if it has that capability? I cannot do without it.RegardsAbe

[Guest Buck Bolduc]

>Thanks for the input Satcomvato.>>I made up my mind to get the 8800GTS with 640 megs. I have>seen it selling for about $370.>>However, I have to be careful. I do lots of VIDEO CAPTURE and>editing.>Do you know off hand if it has that capability? I cannot do>without it.>>Regards>>Abe> > > >I use the 8800GTX no problem with Fraps and Vertual Dub. In fact the newest version of Fraps is multi threaded, works well with MS Movie Maker.

[ABE 0]

Thanks Buck.I meant regular video capture from TV or a Digital Camera to make DVD's. Or just to view later on. I use both MPG and AVI. Have you done any video capturing like that? Do both the GTS and GTX capture video?Thanks.Abe

[Guest exmixer]

Abe,>>Do both the GTS and GTX capture video?<

[Mace 1,951]

To add to/second what Jim said; Generally in those situations a P4 3.8 ghz will not be able to supply data to an 8800 fast enough to make much speed difference in FS. Sure fps might be slightly better but you will still be cpu-bound. You will be limited by your cpu irregardless of the card. The amount of memory on some of those 8800 cards (some have 640 or more megs) will give a good benefit for you though.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

[ABE 0]

Thanks Guys!!You are absolutely right. I found out the hardway. I purchased an EVGA 8800GTS 640 megs, on the condition that I can return it without a hassle or a stocking fee. And I did just that.However, as good as the card is for display it does not do any VIVO(videoIN,videoOUT) so NO capture possibility. For whatever it's worth, FSX ran slightly better few extra FPS's here and there. I am going to stick with ATI - I used them in the past. They might not be as powerful for display as Nvidia, but they have VIVO.Regards.Abe